Inking-ribbon mechanism.



C. DWENS.

mmc RIBBON MECHANISM.

AFPLICATlU-l HLED IMJ. 9. 915.

jagented Nov. 30, i915.

s learners basiereno enaELEsowENs, or en ar'rnnoosa, TENNESSEE, .assIGNoR To MoN'rAGUE MAILING MACHINERY contratar, A' oonrona'rloiv or TENNESSEE.

INKINGRIBBON MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 3d, 1915.

. Application filed January 9, 1915*.- Serial No. 1,396.

To all whom it' may concern: y

Be it known that I, CHARLES OWENS, citizen of the United States, residing at Chattanooga, Tennessee, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in linking-Ribbon Mechanism, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to ribbon mechanism', and is designed more-especially for use in connection with printing or addressing machines in which the impressions are made 'from individual printing or record plates Y through an inling ribbon.

The invention consists in the features of construction and' arrangement and combination of parts hereinafter described and particularly defined by the appended claims.

l'n the accompanying drawings Figure l is a plan view of the inlzing ribbon mecha- 20.

nism withA a part of thesupporting frame; Fig. 2 isa rear view of Figzl with parts in section; Fig. 3 is an endelevation of Fig. 1.. Inthese drawings, 1 and 2 indicate the inking ribbon spools whichareL loosely7 mounted upon the ends of a tubular shaft 3. Each spool has a spring wire 4 attached thereto at its ends, Fig. 3, the middle portion of this spring wire being seated in a groove at the-end of the tubular sha-ft so that the spool, while free to turn on the shaft, is under frictional restraint due to the wire spring bearing on the shaft. `The shaft 3 is turned step by step inaccordance with in bearings 7 which are attached to the frame of the machine, and it is held against longitudinal movement by` collars 8 iXed thereon and bearing on the inner sides of the brack ets; The tubular shaft has a clutch member aix-'each end fixed thereto, as'at 9, 10, said clutch.. members having teeth'around their outer edges to be engaged by pawls or driver members 11, 12, carried by the ribbon spools and movable in a direction parallel with axis thereof. Each of these detents or driv ers is in the form of a wire bent into loop or the general form of a staple, with its parallel arms guidedv in openings in the spool, audits crosspiece 13 extending substantially pawls with their respective clutch members 9 and 10 is controlled by a weighted member one for each spool, as 'shown at 141, 15, these weighted members beingv pivotally mounted at 16 to ears on the outer faces of the spools, Each weighted member has an arm 17 adapted to bear on the crosspiece 13 of the corresponding pawl or driver to move the same into engagement with its clutch member 9v or 10, and this action takes place when the inking ribbon is unwound and the weighted inner end of the controller lever is allowed to drop. lVhen the spool has the ribbon wound thereon, the weighted lever will be held in substantially horizontal position by the ribbon bearing on the inner weighted end, and while so held the end 17 of said weighted lever is held removed from engagement with the pawl or driver 11 or 12, as the case may be, and this ribbon spool is free to turn lon the tubular shaft for the unwinding of its ribbon. As soon, however, as the ribbon is unwound, the weighted lever will fall into the position shown at the right of Fig. 2, and the pawl or driver will be moved by the weighted lever to engage the clutch member, for instance, the member 10,

and therefore this ribbon spool will be connected up to the tubular shaft and will be moved step by step through said shaft and the paw] and ratchet mechanism 5 and 6. Y i

Extending through the hollow shaft 3 is a rod 18 engaging at its ends the pawls or drivers 11 and 12 by bearing on the cross bars 13 thereof, from which it will be noticed that when one driver is thrown into engagement with its clutch member to impart positive motion to its ribbon spool for winding the ribbon thereon, the same action will move the rod 18 through the hollow shaft and the pawl or drivel' at the other spool will be released from its clutch member so that this spool may turn on and in respect to the hollow shaft in order that its ribbon may unwind and be wound upon the other spool. Thisrod, therefore, controls the'engagement of each pawl or driver with its respective-clutch member.

l claim as my invention 1. in combination ribbon spools coaxially 

